Unit II. Infra Sound. Part II

Alpha wavesrange between 7 – 12 HZ. This is a place of deep relaxation, but-not quite meditation. In Alpha, we begin to access the wealth of creativity-that lies just below our conscious awareness - it is the gateway, the entry-point that leads into deeper states of consciousness. Alpha is also the home-of the window frequency known as the Schuman Resonance, which is the-resonant frequency of the earth’s electromagnetic field.

The Schuman resonances are standing extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic waves. There frequencies are in the same range as brain waves. They vary in intensity locally and temporally, depending on the distance between the surface or the earth and the ionosphere, which form two conducting layers separated by an insulating layer. These ELF waves seem to amplify brain waves, and through the quantum Zeeman-Stark Effect cause other changes. They also drive brain waves of the same frequency and of harmonic frequencies. A ________ They have been measured all over the earth. Frequency peaks in cycles per second are reported at 8, 14, 22, 26, 32, and 38. Lightning is believed to also operate in the 8 Cycle Schuman resonance.

What is a Schumann Resonance? The Earth behaves like an enormous electric circuit. The atmosphere is actually a weak conductor and if there were no sources of charge, its existing electric charge would diffuse away over a long period of time (due to the atmoshere’s insulative nature). There is a 'cavity' defined by the surface of the Earth and the inner edge of the ionosphere 55 kilometers up. At any moment, the total charge residing in this cavity is roughly 500,000 Coulombs. There is a vertical current flow between the ground and the ionosphere of 1 - 3 x 10^-12 Amperes per square meter. The resistance of the atmosphere is approximately 200 Ohms, so the voltage potential is at around 200,000 Volts.

The electrons that are sent by the sun meet up with the negatively charged ionosphere and are repelled or slowed down and accumulated. The Earth's atmosphere is an insulator to electrons and they do not have enough inertial energy to penetrate it. B _______ The charge keeps increasing until the atmosphere beaks down and the electrons find their way to the Earth in the form of lightning.

This ionospheric (sphere of ions) charge creates an electrical shield around the Earth. This shield then becomes the outer conductor of an electrical sphere (the Earth) within a sphere (the ionosphere). The atmosphere is a dielectric insulator, which separates the two. Thus a spherical capacitor as well as a spherical resonator is created and maintained. Electrical signals of sufficient wavelength (low frequency) are wave-guided around and around between this "sphere within a sphere" and is known as the base Schumann Resonance of 7.8Hz mainly traveling from West to East. During a solar flare, the aurora borealis is seen as the electrical current through the upper atmosphere increases enough at that altitude to cause secondary emission in the form of light. The key here is amplitude. ANY frequency that is propagated at sufficient level will have some effect on the body. C _______ So we don’t go crazy, and leap off a ship in the middle of the ocean.

Another website shows a tripod mount device with a parabolic reflector and an extremely large tube on the back side of it. From the photos it is hard to tell what sort of element is being used inside the tube, but I will guess it is some model of a standard microphone enclosed in the tube. I am sure they are measuring sound, but they are certainly missing the boat on Infrasound. Consumer available Microphones go down to 15Hz at best. Some people are capable of hearing 15 Hz, so it is not considered infrasound at all, but the low end of audio. Many subwoofers mounted in automobiles go down to 15 Hz as evident when one drive’s by your house operating at near full volume and your dishes react by vibrating on the shelves. Impressive, but not Infrasound. Parabolic reflectors are used in many cases to provide directivity and gain to audio in the voice spectrum. They are specially designed reflectors for the audio frequency spectrum. The parabolic dish they are using looks a lot like a satellite TV dish. While it will provide some degree of directivity, the gain is not going to be much. In the photos on the site they show a photo of their equipment set up, and there is a rack of equipment with headphones attached. Just exactly what are they listening to? D _____ Also, the headphones only respond down to about 50 Hz on most models, but there are some models capable of going down to 20 Hz, by using electronic enhancement.

So, there is NO WAY to take a standard microphone diaphragm and “soup it up” to detect Infrasound. E _______ A specially designed coiland diaphragm are required, and better still, a laboratory standard Condenser Microphone, and then the device MUST be calibrated to insure its accuracy at such low frequency use. Some people apparently have read a little and applied their little reading to a project. An example of this would be to build a resonant frequency enclosure for the microphone diaphragm to dwell in that would allow it to enhance low frequency response. This line of thinking is incorrect. Frequency response in a microphone is determined by the diaphragm, voice coil, and to a degree, sensitivity and proximity. Most consumer grade microphones only go down to around 50 Hz. Studio grade microphones will go down to 20 Hz. F __________.

Only Laboratory grade microphones can go below 15 Hz. An example of this type of microphone would be the G.R.A.S. Type 40AN, capable of measuring from 1Hz to 20KHz. Then there is the Earthworks Omni M50, capable of going down to 3Hz but effective to 1Hz. Then there is the issue of amplifying the signal for measurement use. All consumer brand of pre-amplifiers are incapable of reproducing these signals, primarily because they use filters to eliminate them. There for, a laboratory grade preamp is required such as the Earthworks 1021 Zero Distortion Technology Preamp, or the FEMTO DLPVA-100-F Variable gain Low Frequency Voltage Amplifier.

Then there is the “What exactly are they measuring” Question. Measuring level is helpful, but we really need to identify the frequencies at work. Pretty much all of these sites are measuring, or trying to measure the presence of Infrasound, and nothing else. This in and of itself tells you nothing, as infrasound is everywhere. G ______ With that information we can trace the source and eliminate it as a factor in paranormal activity. NO one is doing that. If they were, they would discover that Infrasound is not a simple, single frequency, but instead is a composite of MANY signals meshed together, including audible sound.

In fact, the people who are interested in infrasound research are a small handful of psychologists, and an army of volcanologists. They have discovered a very cheap source for a low frequency microphone, the Panasonic WM-034 series and WM-52B/54B series. Only the microphones are no longer available and have been discontinued. However? they have been replaced by the WM-61B, WM-64PN and WM-64PC. So, once they get equipment that can detect Infrasound, they will need to measure the frequency of Infrasound. H _________ One can also measure amplitude, frequency and look at the composite waveform with an oscilloscope.

In the case of Infrasound, we need to know what frequencies are present during a paranormal event, and if they are unique to the event. THAT is what we need to be looking for.

I Explain the terms in bold.

II Fill in the gaps in the text with the sentences below:

1 The easiest way to do this is with a spectrum analyzer.

2 The nature of the coil and diaphragm make it impossible.

3 What we need to know as researchers, is level and frequency.

4 Shuman resonances are best measured by the horizontal component of the atmospheric magnetic field.

5 However, some of these microphones can produce down to around 15 Hz at a much lower level than normal operation, requiring additional amplification

6 The ionosphere is highly negatively charged (electrons) and conductive.

7 Infrasound can’t be heard.

8 But that level is far above what exists in nature.

III. Answer the questions:

- What is the objective of the author's study?

- What are the main problems of measuring Infrasound?

- Explain the nature of a Schumann Resonance.

- According to the author, can infrasound be the solution to the mystery of the Maria Celesta and the Flying Dutchman?

- What solutions to the problem does he suggest?

- Who might be the recipient of this article?

IV. Style. Rephrase the passage of the article so that to make its language more formal and scientific.

V. Debate. Do you think it is a good idea to study paranormal activity from the point of view of physics, or should a physicist focus on something more scientific than that? Give your reasons.